FBI and Justice Department say Mounir Gad of Los Gatos submitted false letters of support to obtain a light sentence for securities fraud.

California’s unemployment department is making progress on key reforms, but some of the most transformational changes are still years away.

This story has been updated to include information about Amanda Riley's background. A former Gilroy educator pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud for soliciting donations from individuals to help her pay for cancer treatments she did not need nor received, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Amanda Christine Riley admitted to purposely deceiving people into thinking she had Hodgkin’s lymphoma in order to receive monetary donations from 2013 to 2019, says a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of California.

Manish Lachwani, CEO of Headspin until 2020, overstated revenue when he sought money from investors, the U.S. Attorney said.

The two were also charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a case that included four other people.

The joint enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department involved a high school biology teacher, a gambling debt, a group of friends, WhatsApp messages and two Silicon Valley tech companies.

Both people charged – Julie Amador, 46, of San Jose, and Shannon Marie Cardenas, 44, of Dublin – spent the money they took on personal expenses.

Jing Chiang Huang was originally charged with sex trafficking, tax fraud and money laundering in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

The DA got involved in the case after getting a report of “suspicious activity” at a new residential construction project in San Jose. 

Investigators are still trying to determine the extent of the fraud and encouraging victims to come forward.